Warriors' history bid: Eight great teams that destiny left behind

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The Golden State Warriors are on the cusp of history as the greatest ever NBA team ... but what if they falter?

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Injured Stephen Curry can only cheer for the sidelines for now, as his Golden State Warriors take on the Portland Trailblazers in the second round of the NBA playoffs.

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New England Patriots, Super Bowl XLII: New York Giants David Tyree (pointing) celebrates after scoring the second touchdown against the previously undefeated New England Patriots. The Giants won 17-14 -- perhaps the most shocking upset in Super Bowl history.

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Brazil's 1982 World Cup team: Midfielder Zico starred alongside fellow playmaker Socrates in probably the most famous World Cup side not to win the tournament.

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Brazil's 1982 World Cup team: Zico (#10) was marked by bruising defender Claudio Gentile of Italy during the second round match at the Sarria Stadium in Barcelona. Italy won the match 3-2 on the back of a Paolo Rossi hat-trick.

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Brazil's 1982 World Cup team: Socrates played 60 times for Brazil and captained his country in Spain during the 82 tournament. The Corinthians star was also a medical doctor, earning him the nickname "Dr. Socrates." He was known for being a heavy smoker during his playing day and died at the age 57 in 2011. "Football as we know it died that day," he would later say of Brazil's loss to Italy.

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U.S. Open 2015: Serena Williams walks off of the court after losing to Roberta Vinci of Italy in the semifinals. It was her only loss in a major over the entire year.

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2004 Olympic basketball: Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson look bewildered as they watch struggling fellow Team USA members play in Athens. America placed third on the podium and lost three games in that tournament -- the first, a 19-point route to Puerto Rico.

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2004 Olympic basketball: Lamar Odom and Stephon Marbury can't quite believe what they're witnessing in Athens. NBA pros lost for the first time ever at the Olympics when they fell to Puerto Rico in the opening game. They would also lose to Argentina and Lithuania on their way to a bronze.

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2003-2006 Real Madrid "Galacticos": Although David Beckham was a big marketing success for Real Madrid, his teams won no trophies until their La Liga title in his fourth season. By then Becks had signed with the LA Galaxy and didn't feature frequently on the team.

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2003-2006 Real Madrid "Galacticos": Perhaps unfairly, David Beckham's signing at Real Madrid drew criticism as being part of the style-over-substance philosophy of signing internationally recognized superstars known as "galacticos."

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UNLV Runnin' RebelsMarch Madness 1991: The Rebs featured pro-ready players such as small forward Stacey Augmon. The team went 34-0 before facing Duke -- a team they had dismantled the year before -- in the Final Four.

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UNLV Runnin' RebelsMarch Madness 1991: Larry Johnson would go on to have a distinguished career with the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks in the NBA. But winning back-to-back titles with UNLV would have left a mark as one of the greatest college teams to ever grace the game.

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LA Lakers 1986 NBA Playoffs: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar teamed with Magic Johnson to win five rings in Los Angeles -- but was outplayed by Hakeem Olajuwon in the 1986 Western Conference finals. The upset derailed the Laker's chances of winning four titles in a row, something that hasn't been achieved since the Boston Celtics rolled off eight straight in the 1960s.

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LA Lakers 1986 NBA Playoffs: Magic (#32) recently anointed Kobe Bryant as the greatest Laker ever, though a sixth title in Tinsletown would have inched him ahead of Bryant in the ring count (both ended their careers with five).

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Seattle Mariners 2001 MLB Playoffs: Seattle Mariners won a record 116 games behind Ichiro Suzuki's remarkable rookie season (right), but lost in the playoffs against the Yankees and have struggled to stay relevant ever since.